Gravity
by thegirlwhocriedink
Summary: While Garrus tries to convince the Turians to prepare for the inevitable attack, he meets an odd human girl who he can't resist being pulled towards. Who is she? Where did she come from? There is something about her he can't define. Garrus X OC.
1. The Event Horizon

Looking up, I remember seeing the blanket of space. It's a dark sheet, an empty cover that is sprinkled with endless stars that twinkle somberly in the night. I could see the different colors. Some shone blue, others a color of red, but most a distant yellow faded by the thousands, perhaps millions of light years that stand between my eyes and the fiery balls of gas. I used to spend hours just staring up into the heavens and trying to name them all, give them a story. My fathers once told me that some stars were just lonesome creatures that just burned endlessly until they died, but some stars don't just create light, they crafted life. They burned for a purpose and they great mass altered the gravity of time and space, drawing matter into their orbit and eventually planets were formed. It was these planets I gave names too, these planets constructed my stories and I dreamt of aliens species that would rise from my stories, face conflicts, and become victorious. I envision a galaxy outside of my own, a faraway place I couldn't touch or ever see.

I just never thought I would actually go there.

_"Alert! Alert!" _Bright red letters screamed across the screen of my cockpit in my native language. I knew what had already happened before the A.I. system turned on and the familiar voice of Sylvia's robotic tone told me; I was caught in the powerful grip of the gravity of a super massive black hole. It couldn't be helped. I had to draw off the enemies; I had to save my soldiers, my men. Our mother ship had been surrounded and I knew what they were after. As soon as they saw the sleek black metal of my one person space fighter, they stopped firing on Valismar and came after me. Three hundred small grey blurs started to race after me. Rays of light flashed around me as they fired their guns. I evaded them easily but if I turned around and tried to fight them head on, it would be a different story. My instincts were to either fight or flight and right now they were blaring run, run, run. So I did.

Until I saw it.

In truth, I didn't see it at all. Black holes are just darkness in the black of space. You can't see the hole, the tunnel, but you can see the light trapped in its palms, trying to escape and eventually it's devoured along with particles of floating space or whatever else it ensnares.

I knew this was it; it was now or never.

I lead them across the dark field of glitter; they were so occupied with trying to kill me that they never saw it. I kicked my busters on, the glowing consol in front of me read signs of the mass gravity and the diminishing fuel that was be absorbed by my jet's core but I ignored it. I raced across the flat surface of matter that was being sucked it, pulled one hell of U-turn, and fired every single missile I had. Explosions scattered across the black and within a blink of an eye, it was dragged into the spinning tunnel of the event horizon. The rest of the ships panicked, trying to slow down to stop from colliding with flying metal and sheets of glass. Bad move. As soon as they stop their thrusters, the black hole grabbed them and ate them. I figured that was it, I used the controls to turn my ship and watched the screen as all of the evidence of a perfect battle was consumed into the black, but at the last second I saw it; a single grey ship. But by the time I could react it was too late. I saw the bright flash of its guns fire. Life became slow motion, the space around me slugged, and my life flashed before my eyes.

It hit hard. I shook so violently in my cockpit that I hit my helmet on the consol and cracked it. Blood dripped down the inside of the glass and I could barely see the report reading across my screen. They destroyed my thrusters and the inside of fuel chamber was shot. I couldn't wipe away the blood because it was on the inside of my suit but I already knew that my fighter was done and there was no way I could escape. When I scanned the screen the dull jet was gone. Whether it was sucked in or had escaped, I'll never know.

Even inside the protective area of the cockpit I could feel the ship shift with the gravity. It was like it was on autopilot on a cruising speed but it wouldn't last long. I tried the controls; accessing override systems, backup drives but the entire electronic chips were fried and it barely responded to my touch.

"Fuck you!" I screamed through my suit. Years of training, fighting, building, and creating for nothing. I poured my life into technological advances, military assignments, and for the safety of a planet that wasn't even my home. And now, I would die from a piss poor fighter pilot and a space time anomaly.

My vessel began to speed up, I could feel the pressure building on top of me, and the red lettering poured over me, flashing again and again and again. I couldn't do anything. I stared down at the blood in my helmet; it glowed with the words over and over and over. This is some kind of horrible movie, I decided as sweat trickled down my brow.

"Someone is trying to hail you, Commander," Sylvia said distorted and shot.

"Put them on," I looked up the monitor. I could barely look up; the force of the black hole was tightening its hold and pulled me faster and faster into the center, into the darkness.

A Pularigan appeared on the monitor; an alien amphibian with slick blue skin and bright red tattoos. His big round eyes looked at me and glistened. "You're heading into a black hole," his distinct accent rang in my ears. He always sounded so formal, spoke with such command. I never really liked serving under him; he never really liked me but I respected him enough and I think eventually he felt the same way about me.

"Tell me something I don't know," I told him. "I don't have much power left." The screen went black for a second, static and white noise claimed the monitor but luckily, he cut through in the scatter.

"We…will...come…for…you," the image was distorted and suddenly the glass piece cracked right down the middle.

"NO!" A wave of fear rushed through my body. I wouldn't allow it; I couldn't put all of my men in danger. Their ships didn't have the power or the technology to come for me. "Do not come for me. DO YOU HEAR ME, ZERK! DO NOT COME FOR ME!" All the power in my ship failed and it went black. It was just me and the darkness.

I sat back in my chair, my eyes locked on the event horizon, the point of no return. Beams of light swirled down it in a brilliant of colors of shades, particles of matter were stretched out across long distances as it was pulled over the fabric of space and time. The metal of my fighter began to creak and bend. The whole thing was beginning it's descend. The gravity was pulling it apart as cracks breached open on the cockpit glass and I could feel the pressure, it weighed down on me like a thousand suns and oddly, it was hot. So hot.

I was being pulled; my feet stretching out beneath me. My blood vessels pressed out in my arms and legs and my head pounded so hard that the screeching around me was suddenly muffled. I could barely concentrate, my eye sight was lost in blurs of luminosities of another world, and my thoughts were of the knocking pain in the backdoor of my mind. The super massive black hole was so close the radiation flew through my body and its gravity reached out and grabbed the hands to my soul pulling it inch by inch out of me. I fought to get it back but I couldn't even hold out my hand; the pressure rained down on me and kept me balled up to myself. I thought that perhaps I was spinning and the entire universe seemed to slip from my grasp, light strains running over me and into nothingness.

The last thing I remember was the revolving core of flames, the whirling tunnel of doom, the center of destroyed particles, the event horizon, and then darkness.

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><p><span>DISCLAIMER! I do not own not one single thing on here. All Mass Effect characters, ideas, and scripts are property of BioWare. I do not take credit for anything. Thank you.<span>

If you're confused, it's okay. But please refrain from leaving me questions in my reviews. All things will eventually be answered through the story. This is just the beginning to what I hope will bloom into something beautiful. If not, then it's given me a lot of practice at writing. Please leave me reviews if you liked this. If you didn't, leave me one anyway and tell me why. I'm always looking for improvement.


	2. Purgatory

"Have a drink with me!" the Asari slurred at him. Her blue skin tainted with shades of red from the alcohol that the humans had paid and poured for her one after another until she had drank herself short into a bliss heaven. But this starry eyed, young, sapphire alien didn't have eyes for the soft pink flesh of the human boys, no. She had taken one glance at Garrus and decided that she would make him hers.

"I just wanted to get one drink," he murmured under his breath, sipping at his dextro liquor.

"Huh?" she tried to slip her arms under his and pull him closer. Her breath reeked of alcohol as she brought her face closed to his; her icy blue lips inches away from his mouth. "You know… The Asari race can mate with any race," her words clash into each other in a sloppy disarray and she emphasized the words _mate_ and _race_. Garrus took a step back.

"Sorry, I'm just really not-,"

"I'm super flexible!" she interrupted, off topic. She had to balance herself on the glass bar before she could take a step towards him. "I'm… I'm… I am only maiden…"

"That's very… Uh, good to know but really I'm not interested," he said. She stared at him with half his mouth ajar, he could see the gears in her mind turning and finally click. Suddenly her face changed, a frown appeared on her lips and she stared at him dazed in thought.

"Why are all you Turians such pompous assholes?" She flung her drink around in the air as she spoke and a small anger flashed over him and he pulled away from her. She practically tripped on herself and tumbled to the ground.

"I don't have the slightest idea," he said, taking his drink and moving down to the lower level of the Purgatory club. People were moving, dancing, drink and laughing but honestly Garrus wasn't in the mood for this kind of activity. He just wanted to get a drink and calm his nerves before he had to set out and go home to Palaven. But of course nothing was ever that simple. After destroying the Collector's Base with Shepard, he didn't really imagine going home ever again, or at least, not for a while. He expected to go on more cunning expeditions on the Normandy but when Shepard showed up in the main battery with her soft, short blonde hair frizzed over her face. He could tell something was wrong.

"They are going to attack soon," she said, her superior voice ringing off the metal in the small room. "We're not prepared. They have better weapons, better technology. They will indoctrinate everyone and turn us against our own."

"The Reapers?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, I mean you saw that base, what those collectors were doing; using people to create that monster. I can't image what else the Reapers have in store for us, what else they have hiding up their sleeves. The Proteans didn't even stand a chance and they have far more advancements in weaponry, ships, and technology than us…" She didn't speak for a moment, almost lost in her own thoughts but then," That's why I'm asking you to go home, Garrus. I'm sending everyone home. We have to warn them, tell them the truth. We have to tell them what we've seen and tell them to prepare." She looked so dazed when she said it that he almost thought she was kidding but then he remembered that Shepard rarely kid about anything and when she did, she sucked at it.

"The council didn't listen to us last time and that was when Sovereign showed up at the Ciditel's door," he told her, his flanging accent echoed into silence as she didn't say anything for a while. The whirling electronics of the guns acted like a white noise and he just stood there and stared at Shepard. She was bent over at the terminal, gazing down at her Alliance boots as her hair draped over her face. She was in the normal uniform, in the usual clothes but today there was something different. Even for a human, it was hard to deny her beauty but he didn't dare say anything. He had tried to comfort her once, even tried to hint at his affection towards her, and one time he came out as blunt as a Turian could get but she made it firm that she had eyes for someone else and that was okay with him. But even still there was no refuting the difference in her eyes today. There was something really bothering her and after all the time with her, Garrus could practically read it off her face.

"If you really think it that this will help, I'll go," he said finally.

"It's not that I really think, it's that I really hope," she said finally looking up at him. "This isn't just some war for humans or for Turians. It's war for the whole galaxy and if everyone doesn't put their best hand in, we will end up like the Proteans or worse," that was where she left him and how he ended up on the Citadel with an Asari chasing him around Purgatory.

He took another sip of his glass and sighed. It wasn't that he didn't want to go home. He missed Palaven and being surrounded by his kind but there was another concern lingering in his mind; his father. It had been some time since the last time he had seen him, what would he say? How would he explain it all? He took the last gulp of the drink and started to head out. There was only one way to find out.

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><p><span>DISCLAIMER! I do not own not one single thing on here. All Mass Effect characters, ideas, and scripts are property of BioWare. I do not take credit for anything. Thank you.<span>

Please leave a review to tell me how I'm doing. :)


	3. Stars and Life

"Father?" a small voice called out to a black figure. She was standing in the doorway; her long brown curls framed her face and cascade down to her hips. Every little kink in her hair was a perfect spiral and in the dimmed lit laboratory her seafoam green eyes glowed. She was no older then eight.

"Yes?" he answered without looking at her. He was bent over his table with something in his hands. It was a strange sphere and he turned it over, analyzing it with his black talons, tracing a strange symbol engraved in the top of it.

She was consumed in what he was doing that she had forgot what she was going to ask him, "What is that?" Curiosity overwhelmed her and the words slipped through her lips before she realized she had even said them.

"Nothing, Safiya," his voice echoed off the metal walls and off the glass test tubes. It had a presence of ominous all knowing power behind it that scared her but dragged her in as well. He placed the sphere on the table and turned to her. His face was featureless, black, and smooth. He had no eyes, no mouth, no nose; only what looked like splatters of stars ran across his face in a frenzy of colors. He was tall and lean. His fingers were three large talons, his joints shot out in spikes from behind, and his knees caved inward. She felt so alien compared to him. Her skin was a fleshy pale pink, her nose was covered in small freckles, and her small mouth was paired with scarlet lips.

"Can you tell me about the stars?" she asked him with a frown pasted on her.

"You're supposed to be asleep," he said ignoring her question and noticing her long white night gown.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

"Bad dreams."

"Then I will tell you about the stars."

He took her out on a great balcony. It was made of white stone and a canopy of plants that swirled around the columns and the edge. The flowers were in bloom and though it was night, Saf could see the collection of their colors; some of them even glimmered neon purple and blue in the darkness. They lit the circle of the porch in a kind afterglow. The moons were out was well but only two of them, Jemu and Izmu, the two biggest. They shone down upon them as huge giants; one an icy blue and the other a lush verdant.

She jumped on to the ledge and looked up at the sky. The stars were out but since Jemu was at the point of zenith, they were almost outshined. They were just a faded display of a glittery river behind the moon.

Her father came beside her and leaned on the edge, his elbows on the stone, and looked up.

"Do you see that odd sparkling purple star? It's next to the constellation Remilan, the one that looks like a Pularigan bulsar," he said.

"That one?" she pointed into the heavens at the one she believed he was talking about. It was a soft violet light surrounded by a cluster of yellow stars.

"Yes. It is a dead star. It no longer burns,"

"Why is it dead?"

"It was once a massive red giant. It had a dense core, a burning center that kept it burning for millions of years. But unfortunately, its magnificent core burned so hot for so long that it burned it's self to death. The hotter a star burns, the shortest its life is. Now it is a peaceful white dwarf that will sleep for entirety."

She stared at the sky with intense wonder, "It's still shinning though."

"It's a thousand light years away. Even though it no longer gives light, the light that it had once sparkled is still traveling through space and it takes a long time for that light to reach us,"

"So even though it's dead, its light lives on?"

He gave a strange, muffle chuckle and if he could smile, Saf knew he would be right now. "Precisely. You see that cluster to the east? Right of Izmu?"

"Yes."

"A trillion light years from there is a galaxy. It has many-"

"What kind of galaxy?"

"A spiral galaxy."

"Is it beautiful?"

"Yes."

"Are there people there?"

"Yes."

"What kind of people?"

"Many different kinds. Now if you let me talk I can tell you all about them."

"Sorry. Please tell me."

"There are many planets there that hold life. One planet is called Earth and its inhabitants have named themselves Humans."

"Humans?" she repeated looking up at him. He was staring right back down at her.

"Yes, they are… Strange creatures, "he seemed to be looking for the right words.

"What do they look like?"

"They look like you."

"What?"

"Your other fathers and I created you in their image."

"But why? Why didn't you create me like you?"

"I will tell you one day."

"Not today?"

"No not today."

For some reason nothing he had just said bothered her. "What are they like?"

* * *

><p>I was floating again, in a deep sleep in a bottomless space somewhere in the universe. I could feel light pour onto me and through me; it dripped down the inside of my eyes and past my heart. It raced in my veins and through my arteries; it was pumping and pumping through my soul and out my fingertips. Where was I? I couldn't open my eyes; they were sown shut by the fabrics of time, laced with fragments space. But I could feel everything. There was heat beating on me, a moist atmosphere around me, a strange taste that was lingering inside my mouth. It tasted… like iron and salt. And suddenly, it hit me. I remembered the tornado of fire swirling around me, my fighter jet being torn from me as the glass shatter across the black and glistened red. I was ripped from the cockpit and pulled into a cosmos of pain. The universe span on an axis and I was falling, I think, and then everything went white.<p>

_I must have found enlightenment_, I thought_, the home of the ancients, the origin of my fathers, and God will be waiting for me there._ I could see the white, I could almost touch it with my finger tips but it wasn't white, I realized, it was a soft flesh color. I was looking through my eyes lids and there was light on the other side.

I opened my eyes and there was a blue sky with soft clouds hovering over me in scattered pools. The sturdy glass of my helmet was broken and pieces of glass sat on my skin undisturbed. _I'm alive, _I grasped_, Oh my God, I'm alive. _I could feel my lungs filling up with air, my heart pounding, my fingers tingling. I touched my body, feeling my stomach, my sides, my hips, my neck. I reached up to the latch of my helmet, undid it, and pulled it off. My brown hair fell down onto my face as I sat up, the glass shard falling down to my lap with small clanking noises.

I was on a beach; the sand was moist beneath me and in front of me, not even ten feet, was a stirring ocean. I sat there, in awe, looking at it. Trying to comprehend what it was I was looking at and how it was possible.

_Maybe I am dead_, I couldn't help to think as I tried to attempt to stand on my feet. I stumbled at first, my legs felt burned on the inside, my bones ached, and my muscles strained but they worked. I stood proudly on my feet, looking over the water. I couldn't help but smile then as a salty breeze flew over me and tangled in my hair. I had no idea how I survived, how I made it through the black hole and onto this planet but I didn't care. I was just happy to be alive.

I heard a strange noise, at first I didn't even pay attention to it but when it repeated I finally realized that it was a voice calling and rustling behind me. I turned around me got a glimpse of yellow and white armor laced with black before I was hit with something hard to my face. Blood spat in my vision and I fell to the sand with a hard thump. I was trying to recover but the person stood above me, a gun in hand, and their helmet looked down at me through black glass. There was a strange symbol on his chest; it was a yellow crystal with straight lines to its sides. I heard a crazed laughter and then he hit me with the back of his gun again-pain struck through my skull and before the third strike hit all I saw was the sparkling river of the sand that lead to the ocean and then nothing.

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><p><span>Disclaimer: I do not own a single thing.<span>

I really didn't want to end this chapter this way but it couldn't helped. This is all going to lead up to something epic, I promise. Sorry that Garrus wasn't in this one but he will be in the next!

Please leave me a review if you like it. If you didn't, leave me one anyway.


	4. From Palaven to Thracia

Garrus Vakarian sat on a bench in Palaven waiting for the next shuttle to arrive. It was due to depart at 12:21 and it was only 11:46. He wasn't in his regular armor, he had put on a more casual attire that the Turians on the Citadel run around in all day but the whole thing made him itchy. It was made from some odd textile that humans called _bamboo_. It was blue and white with a vertical pattern on the side running from the bowl collar to his waist with a striped pale line at the bottom. He looked nice but it made him uncomfortable not being in his armor, it made him feel unprotected and vulnerable. But when he imagined his father looking at him with his scratched armor that hadn't been washed in Spirits know when, he could feel the frown.

Garrus checked his Omni tool for the time again. It was only 11:50. He sat back against the wall behind him and watched the people walk by. He was in the main station in the capital. The grand hall was crowded with many faces; most were Turians going on with their daily business, others Asari, a few Salarians, and even fewer humans. You could tell the humans apart because they had to wear a protective suit to survive the intense radiation, they stood out against the haze of the other races racing by. Shuttles were leaving and landing on a long launch pad and behind it was a window that captured that beauty of the city; tall metal buildings reached for the sky in the distance, the sun reflecting and glimmer off them.

Garrus check his Omni tool again; 11:53. Was time slowing down or was he just becoming more impatient? He still hadn't decided what he was going to say to his father. Just envisioning his stern face and blue tattoos made Garrus' head hurt. Trying to visualize what he will say, his deep book binding voice trickle down all over Garrus' scars and into his ears made him want to never leave this bench or this station and just watch all the faces past by, giving names to people he didn't know and make up stories of where they were going, what adventures they are going to embrace and fight. But he had to see him; he actually wanted to see his father despite the fussing. Garrus loved his father, respected him above all others, besides of course Shepard, but he felt that he had spat on all his teachings. His father was a man of the law, he obeyed rules, and Garrus had tried to live that way through most of his life until he met Shepard, joined her unruly gang, and sent off without any regulations to fight Sovereign and Saren.

_I'm just going to tell him everything, _Garrus thought, _only then he can judge me fairly, right? _Even though he said that to himself, he could see feel the dread of disapproval trickle down his spine and into his hands forming nonexistent puddles in his palms making his talons sweat. Even though he had no regrets, he would never want to bring dishonor to his family, especially to his father.

"Garrus Vakarian?" A strong voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked up. Four young Turians stood beside him, dressed in armor, with the same lime-green tattoo printed on their face. Garrus couldn't define the pattern on their skin but he knew it was military.

"What did I do now?" he asked, not even thinking how odd that might have sounded.

"You have been summoned. We are here to transport you."

"By who?"

"The Primarch's Chief General Barkus."

Garrus looked at them suspicious but he knew he couldn't refuse. Turians were known for their military; martial law was always the law and controlled everything. If the military called you, you answered. That was the way things were.

* * *

><p>Garrus closed his fist and stood up, following the soldiers to a terminal. <em>I guess my father is just going to have to wait some more <em>he thought getting onto a shuttle.

"We've just lost communication with Thracia," Gerneral Barkus said. He was a tall, even for a Turian, and built with huge shoulders and muscles. His face paint was a deep purple that ran over his mandibles and nowhere else_. He has the harsh face of someone who's worked in the military for too long_ thought Garrus as the general pulled up a map of the planet on a projector. It was just a regular water planet with small patches of tropical islands that shattered across the surface. It was given to the Turians as a present from the Asari when they joined the council but there wasn't much use for it. It had no dextro proteins, the air had a high percent of oxygen from the underwater vegetation, and the small amount of land had nothing but plants. The Turians really couldn't colonized the planet so they turned it into a military post with an atmospheric filter to level out the oxygen levels so they could live there without masks or helmets. Also the marine life in the water created a new trade of exotic pets and seafood that was deemed a delicacy by other races, even though the Turians could not eat it.

"What happened?" Garrus asked leaning over the consol and looking over the projection. He was back in his old armor and boy did he feel good in it. It was like- what did human girls call it? Like wearing your favorite pair of jeans, only better.

"They were about to transport some aquatic organisms and suddenly the whole connect went black," the general said and then add, "I'm sending a squad over there now to check things out, I want you to go with them."

Garrus face flashed with confusion, he didn't understand why it was so important that he went with them or even why they chose him. "I'm not a military man anymore general; I joined C-Sec after I did my time and then joined Shepard to defeat Saren,"

"I know that; I read your dossier," Barkus said throwing a data pad across the table so it landed right in front of Garrus. Sure enough his name was at the top of the file along with a complete record of his recent activities. "I'm asking you to go because of your documentation with Cerberus," suddenly the general was typing something onto the terminal. "This was the last thing received from our post on Thracia before everything went black. It's a security camera footage on the import dock,"

Before Garrus could say a thing the projection of the planet changed and suddenly he was watching a scene of a launch pad surround by tropic trees and planets. There were Turian soldiers wondering around, two were talking to each other and another one was at another corner of the screen looking at something. The next thing he knew the one in the corner fell to the ground, blue blood leaked out of his body as the other soldiers snap into action but it was too late. Troops in yellow and black armor run into the picture shooting their assault rifles at the Turians then the image becomes static. That was it.

"I know that you used to work for Cerberus," the general said after the short clip.

Garrus' face flickered and he glared at Barkus, "I didn't work for them, I worked for Shepard. She was just being funded by them to destroy the Collectors. And as soon as we destroyed the base we cut off all ties to them."

"Worked for… Funded… I really don't care what you call it. The fact is that you had links with Cerberus," he stated, folding his arms and leaning back against a sleep wall. "You know more about Cerberus than any other Turian on this planet and as I see it, you owe us for even being involved with them."

Garrus tightened his hands into a fist, he had half the mind to punch the general in the mandible, but he was much too collective and cool to do that. "So, what do you want then?" he said so calmly.

"Like I said, I'm sending a squad," he snickered, "And you're going too."

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><p>Sitting on a shuttle on his way to Thracia wasn't Garrus' ideal way of winning preparations for the Reaper attack but as he saw it, he had no other way. He needed for the Turians to trust him and as General Barkus stated-they had no real reason to give him that faith. This would prove to them that he isn't some low life that sold his soul to Cerberus and maybe this would be the gateway to creating what Shepard had sent him for: help. After all she was right; the Reapers were too strong for just one race to fight them and win. There had to be alliances, had to be provisions, if not then they would end up like the Proteans.<p>

Garrus tried to push his mind from that; he didn't want to start imagining what life would be life if the Reapers won. Instead he focused at the task at hand, the Cerberus mission. What were Cerberus troops doing on Thracia? What did they want? They weren't after the aquatic life that's for sure so why show up on such an outreached planet like this? All these questions left him feeling inadequate for not being about to answer them. Apparently, he was a Cerberus expert, he was suppose to have all these answers but honestly he didn't any more about Cerberus then when Shepard had found him on Omega.

He looked around the shuttle; five Turian soldiers sat in blue armor ready for anything in a dim little cockpit. They were anticipating the deployment, waiting to fight, preparing to prove themselves but Garrus knew Cerberus was capable of anything, especially with the Illusive Man as as its head. He didn't know what they will find or if they will be ready for it.

"We're reaching the landing point," the pilot said over the com system. All of the soldiers including Garrus stood up in a line gearing up to jump out. Garrus looked over to the one beside him; he looked nervous even though he was wearing a helmet. The four behind him plunked proudly in their uniform with their guns held up to their chest.

_We'll find out who the truly brave ones are and which ones are the real Turians, _Garrus thought facing towards the door again. He put on his helmet, clicking it until it locked in place. The ship thumped as it landed and the door opened.

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><p><span>Disclaimer:<span> Bioware owns everything Mass Effect.

I read this chapter like five times but I still feel it has a million errors so I apologize just in chance..

So I really wanted them to meet in this chapter cause I didn't want to prolong it too much longer but it felt right to stop it here. Also I hope that things are happening too fast. I've been kind of anticipating writing about their encounter but I didn't want this chapter to seem hurried. If it does, I might come back to it and re-write it. Anyway, please leave me a review! Thanks.


	5. The Mission

Someone was knocking in my head, banging on the door to my brain trying to wake me up, trying to tell me to open my eyes. But I couldn't. I was still lost in my dream and it was coming down on me fast. I was falling through the vortex of the black hole again, spinning never endlessly in circles. I wasn't in my ship; it was just me and my black armor. I could see thunder and strange strands of lights breaking through the empty space. There was matter around me being sucked through as well but they were stretched out so far that they were just threads descending in rays of different shades.

Even though I was falling I couldn't feel any gravity or pressure. It was like someone was holding my hand and pulling me through a void of hollow space. Everything around me on the other hand, seemed to be falling at great speeds. They passed by me in smudged shadows and forgotten clouds; all racing to the bottom. I could not see the bottom but upon my dive I saw a crack in the tunnel and somehow when I reached out for it, I was able to grab it with the tips of my fingers. I ripped a fracture into the cosmos and jumped through it.

I was in a white universe. In the distance there were black stars sparkling, a remote galaxy of hazy darkness spiraling, and even a black hole but instead of the center being filled by darkness, it was white and the matter being consumed was shades of grey and black. It was like someone took the entire universe and inverted the colors; light had become black and black had transformed into white.

I was still floating, trying to grasp all of my surroundings when somebody called for me.

"Safiya…" I knew the voice; it was a tone that I grew up with. I spun in the zero gravity to my right and saw my father. His dark figure accented against the giant plane of white.

Suddenly my feet where on an invisible floor and I was standing up straight. A light pressure pressed down on me, keeping my feet stuck on the unseen ground. I was staring at him but I could see beyond him; I could see a black hole coming right towards him.

I started to run as he reached out his hand towards me but not matter how hard I ran, I couldn't get any closer to him. I tried to scream but my lips were sown together. I pumped my legs, extended my muscles but I couldn't reach him. I watched him helplessly get sucked into the vortex and disappear into the white. I could feel tears over running my face, pain gripping my brain, pressure coming down unto me as my whole body started to shake.

Then I woke up.

I was in a small room. It had white walls, a white floor, and in front of me was a window that gave me a view of an entire laboratory. There were foreign computers reading strange signs on the walls, all different kinds of shaped glass and containers all labeled in a language that I had never seen. I had no clue where I was or how I got there. I remember the beach and the sand, someone attacking me…

That's when I realized that I was straight up. I wasn't lying down; I was actually several feet above the ground. I tried to move my arms but they were locked; I could feel a cold metal clamped to my wrists and at my feet as well. I wasn't in my suit either; I was wearing this strange stiff white cloak that fell clumsy over my body. Where was I?

* * *

><p>The port was empty, there weren't even any bodies left over from the battle or signs of resistance. Garrus was in front of the squad, holding an avenger assault rifle in his hands while his volkov sniper rifle was strapped to his back. The island was peaceful, there was a pleasant ocean breeze rolling in and the foreign tall trees, that reminded Garrus of the pictures of palm tree that he had seen, were swaying in the air in a soft ballet.<p>

Garrus signaled to the troops the coast was clear. They needed to continue deeper into the jungle to get to the military post. Hopefully there they would discover what Cerberus was doing and more importantly, if there were any survivors.

The soldiers strolled by carefully, checking out everything and moving with caution just in case the enemy was aware of their presence but Garrus was pretty sure they had the advantage of surprise or at least he hoped so.

As they walked into the jungle, it got denser, the vegetation got thicker, branches and vines reached out and tried the grab them but fortunately the path that the men on the post used was pretty clear. Garrus looked for clues on the path; blood stains, bullets, thermal clips, even foot prints but there wasn't a single sign.

"Vakarian?" the nervous soldier from earlier spoke up as they walked through the path.

"What is it?" he asked still watching every corner. The jungle was so thick in these parts that four feet in was complete darkness. Spirits know what was hiding in the darkness or who was watching them.

"Can you tell us anything more about Cerberus?" this kid was obviously nervous, Garrus could sense it by his tone.

"Before we shipped out I gave a report about all I knew, you should have all read it already."

"I did." "I did too." two of the other four Turians called out but the last two didn't. Garrus figured that they wouldn't have read it anyway; they were too good for reading and they were in it for the action.

"As did I," the timid one said, his assault rifle practically shaking in his talons, "But I was wondering if there was anything you left out that you didn't want the general to know…"

"First thing you should know about telling something to the military," Garrus told him. "They will punish you for telling the truth, but kill you for lying." The soldier got quite after that, Garrus felt sort of bad for being so stern. "What's your name?"

"Tsaro Saparus,"

"Well Saparus, just expect the unexpected,"

At the moment a loud buzzing noise zipped into the air, through the bushes, and the last Turian in line fell to the ground; blue blood oozed out of his helmet and onto the sand.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Garrus screamed.

* * *

><p>I was squirming. Whatever was holding me against this wall was strong and I couldn't break free but that didn't stop me from trying. I tried to squeeze my hands through the small holes, I even tried to just rip the fucking thing off but it didn't work. Nothing worked.<p>

_Click_. Something behind me made a noise. I stopped moving. There was a loud screech of metal against metal followed by another weird sounding _click_.

"Are we ready?" said a voice.

"Yes, Doctor," another answered. I realized that I wasn't alone anymore and that's when they stepped into view.

_They look like you _my father's voice ringed into my ears as I remembered the moment when he described Humans to me. And he was right. The two that stood before me were both of soft flesh, pale skin, a nose, two eyes, and long lean bodies. One was definitely a female; her long blonde hair came out in wavy strands from her head but she had a white mask over her mouth. The other was a man dressed in a long white coat, he was wearing a cap, and strange wired glass over his eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked but both of them looked at me, surprised, but didn't answer. Instead they just continued to a small table and put on blue stretchy gloves over their hands. "Hello?" I said, "I'm talking to you!" Either they didn't understand me or they were just ignoring me. The girl went past my vision.

"Prepare the nitrazepam," the man said as some movement behind me occured. The girl came back rolling a cart. I could feel the goosebumps rise on my skins as I saw the needles, knives, tools, and scalpels. What were they going to do to me?

"What's going on?" I asked so timidly that I didn't even recognize my own voice.

The girl handed him a syringe and a bottle that contained a vibrant pink liquid. He filled it to the brim, giving two flicks of his fingers against the top. He turned to her, "Are you ready?" She nodded. He started walking towards me. I freaked, trying to move away, trying to pull away but I couldn't move.

"Get away from me!" I screamed but I couldn't stop him. He injected the needle into my neck and crammed my veins with the drug. Suddenly my body went raw; I could feel it move through my body with an icy cold power. It raced through my veins and into my heart, moving through each chamber, coating everything, and then existing out my arteries for another run. It took not even a minute for it to make my struggle go limp. My head lost its weight and became a feather in a light world. My muscles relaxed, my pulse slowed, my eyelids dropped. I could barely feel the metal against me anymore, I had a sense that I was hovering in mid air; just dangling helpless before these people to experiment on.

"Prepare the indoctrination," he told her as they both stepped out of my view. There was a whirling sound of mechanics around me and whatever I was on started to fall backwards causing me to be laying on my back. I could see a bright light looking down at me but my vision was hazy and it looked like a shinning sun. I could see him lean over me then looking away. He pulled something over me; it blocked the fake star.

"We're ready doctor," the girl's voice was so calm.

"Continue," he said with no hint of emotion.

There was a loud ticking sound, a snap, then a technological rotating sound. The black object in front of me began to move closer and closer. I realized, despite me thoughtless state, that it was a giant needle. I tried to scream but my throat was useless. I tried to move but my body could barely move. I wanted to push it away but it was hopeless, I was hopeless. It was coming down at me; the needle was spinning at a super high speed. The sound it was making was a high pitch, I felt like my ears were bleeding while my brain was going a thousand miles an hour. It was pointed at my forehead and it was getting closer; I could feel the wind against my skin that it made from its spine. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see.

** "INTRUDER INTRUDER!" **an automatic voice screamed over me and the machine stopped.

* * *

><p>Garrus was in the main building. They had lost two men, the ones that hadn't read, and they were being bombarded with attackers. Luckily for them, they had cover and the advantage. Where Garrus and Tsaro sat, they had a clear view of a hallway that the Cerberus troops mindlessly were walking down.<p>

Garrus held up his sniper to his shoulder and gazed down the center of his scope; six more where coming. "Choose one, Saparus, and take them down," Garrus picked the closest one and pulled the trigger. The yellow and white armored helmet exploded with blood and the body dropped to the floor. The Turian soldiers around him took aim on the others and brought them down one by one in a violent bath of bullets and blood. One trooper was left, it was Tsaro's. The Cerberus soldier ran down the hall, holding up his rifle and shooting it off randomly. Tsaro held the gun so timidly, his talons shaking, his body shivering. Garrus was ready to take the hot if he couldn't but despite Tsaro's bad nervousness, he had a good aim. The bullet flew through the air and got the Cerberus bitch in the head. He fell to the ground with a big _Thump. _The hallway was no more than a gore dripping mess, something out of the depths of hell. Garrus signaled for one of them to check the area.

"It's clear," he said after looking around the corners, "But the next room has two hallways." They walked over to the next room with great caution; each only having their backs to each other for safety. Garrus scanned the room; just another empty room with couches, tables, and a couple of computers and data pads. There were still no signs of survivors.

"We'll split up," Garrus said. "Saparus and I will take the east entrance. You two will take the west." They nodded. "I want constant updates," Garrus said sternly; he didn't want to lose anymore men. The left without another word and Garrus faced Tsaro, "Stay behind me and watch your back. I'm not going to have anyone sneak up on us,"

They started their way down the long hall. There was no sign of anyone, no Turian soldiers, no Cerberus troops. Garrus wondered if they would even find anything.

The hallway opened into a room. It looked like laboratory; a slick, pristine laboratory. There was a huge control system there that centralized the whole post, large beakers and test tubes, other programming computers, and even some sampling containers.

"This is probably were they do research for the marine life," Garrus said, putting his gun over his shoulder and walked over the computer system. Hopefully something here would give him information about what happened or what Cerberus wanted. He overridden the systems and accessed the main controls. He tried the cameras, recent data logs and entries but he couldn't find anything. Not a single fucking thing.

" Vakarian…" Tsaro called out.

"Not now, I'm busy," he said back, still trying to find something, anything. "They deleted the entire security system, erased important data.."

" Vakarian, I really think you should see this…"

"What is it!" He asked turning around, realizing that Tsaro was looking through a viewing window. He walked over to him and gazed through the glass.

There was a human girl in the other room. She was pale with lush brown hair that curled over her face; dried up and crusted blood covered most of her face while bad black and blue bruises claimed the other half. She was wearing a hospital gown that revealed tattoos that ran from the top of her neck down her shoulder and descended to the tips of her fingers. They were odd shapes, weird designs, and spirals. She seemed to be unconscious, unaware of them. On her wrist and ankles were cuffs that chained her down on an operating table. There was blood dripping off the metal of the slab from where she had tried to struggle to fight back. A great needle gloomed over her, its shadow wrapped her in darkness.

" Omril?" Garrus said speaking into his Omni tool.

"I'm here," the Turian soldier's voice came through.

"Where there any humans stationed here?"

"No. It's strictly a Turian military base," he answered.

Garrus didn't say anymore. He just stared through the window at the girl; she didn't look Cerberus. She looked like a victim. But what about her tattoos? They reminded Garrus of the ones Turians wore on their face to signify their clan or family but hers were spread across her body. What were they trying to do to her? What is up with the needle? So many questions again that he wanted to know but were unanswered. Maybe she had the answers.

Garrus turned towards Tsaro who had his eyes fixed on him.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p><span>Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Mass Effect is property of Bioware.<span>

Please Review! Things are getting intense and I really want to know what you guys think. There was kind of a spoiler in this chapter about ME3 but not enough to ruin anything I hope.


	6. The Introduction

The Introduction

Garrus stepped into the operating room. The small squared space was quiet and still. The air was musty and bitter. He started to wonder how long the girl had been here for as he watched her chest rise and fall is a steady pattern. He started to walk over to her but he noticed particular things; there were many sedatives bottles on the back counter, some full and others empty. There were needles on the floor, syringes with blood tipped tops, and odd tools; scalpels that were still dripping, strange objects that looked like scoopers. Garrus couldn't even define these tools or what they were used for. They gave him an uneasy feeling as he reached the table.

She was asleep. Her face was badly beaten, her body revealed other wounds across her chest and torso. He looked her over carefully; she didn't look like she was suffering from internal injuries or fatal abrasions. He also noticed that her tattoo didn't just stop at her arm, it continued to her lower half, all the way down her foot. Her entire left side was one great abstract tattoo that danced over her curves and wondered around ever muscle. He had never seen anything like it.

Garrus leaned over her to undo the cuffs at her wrists; they were bloodied from obvious struggle and the cut went around her entire arm. Whatever Cerberus did to her, she did not volunteer for. They must have abducted her, took her in, and were about to experiment on her. But why did they stop?

_Probably us,_ Garrus thought, _an alarm must have went off when we arrived on the island alerting them to escape but leaving her here to die. _He undid the first chain…

And her eyes opened.

With one hand she pushed Garrus off her and unto the ground. She began to struggle, terror rushing through her face as she tried to pull her other arm through the hole. More blood was leaking out of her cuts as the metal scratched her skin open and red liquid ran down the slab as she violently tugged. Garrus couldn't believe how strong she was, it took her no effort to push him away. He stood up and their eyes interlocked.

_She is so beautiful, _Garrus thought. Even with all her blue and black spots absorbing her skins, the crusted blood on her cheeks, and the chap red lips that were dried up; her petite, pale face was perfect and he couldn't stop himself from gazing at her. He had never seen anyone with such enormous almond shaped eyes but that wasn't what grabbed his fascinating. It was their color. In the dim lit room, her soft jade eyes glowed and sparkled like a glittery galaxy spinning in the depths of space.

"Please… Please… Don't hurt me," she whispered in a low tone; her voice breaking the stale room in a vibration of warmth. Though, the look on her face read anything but that. She was frightened; her eyes, although beautiful, were glistening with panic, her face illustrated anxiety, and all of her body language was in shock like she had just waked from nightmare to realized she was still in it.

"I wouldn't do that," he said while stepping towards her but she flinched away. She was staring at him like she had never seen a Turian before. "I'm here to help." He tried taking another step towards her.

"Get away from me!" she yelled trying to pull herself free again. Garrus didn't understand. Was she in a state of shock and couldn't comprehend what was going on? Did Cerberus mess with her that much?

"I can help you," he said calmly but she just stared at him with a confused look. He could understand her, she was speaking English, he could tell by how her mouth moved and how his translator delayed a eighth of a second with each word. But why couldn't she understand him?

He suddenly realized what was wrong.

She was watching him with great intensity as he held up a talon, trying to tell her to wait. He had no idea if she would understand. He walked to the door and stepped into the laboratory where Tsaro was waiting.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked as Garrus started to search in the cabinets, desks, and drawers.

"She can't understand us. She doesn't have a communicator," Garrus explained. He couldn't believe he didn't think about it at first. It was so simple. "Look for a translator. This is a laboratory, there has to be something here."

"A laboratory for marine life," Tsaro stated.

"Just look."

So Tsaro began to look around as well. The human girl watched them through the glass with curiosity as Garrus pulled out lodes of papers, random sampling tubes, and testing strips. He opened a bottom counter and found a collection of flasks, data pads, and shock guns. He tried a cabinet next but found bait; lots and lots of bait.

"I found something!" Tsaro exclaimed, holding up the prize. Garrus couldn't believe they even found something, he was about to give up hope and start using sign language.

It was an out dated translator. It was crested moon shaped with a spherical ball attached to the bottom. It was a universal shape and a rather cheap one compared to the ones given out by the military. Even today these ones were produced and sold to people that didn't have enough money. Garrus remembered seeing the same ones on Humans and Asari wearing them on Omega, even a couple of Krogan.

"Let's hope this still works," he said taking it from him and walking back into the operating room.

She was less startled now. She was still chained to the table at her feet and right arm but she was sitting up and her bleeding had stopped. She watched him carefully as he walked up to her. When he was four feet away she gave him a glare that told him to stop.

He held up the communicator for her to see. Her head tilted in fascination; her green eyes looking it over, analyzing it. Then he put it up to his ear, trying to symbolize where it was going to go. She gave him an odd look but not a scared one. He showed it to her again and stepped forward. She didn't move. He stepped again. She didn't flinch. So he walked up to the metal table and reached out. With her free hand she tucked her hair behind her ear and gave a weak smile, like she wasn't sure what he was doing but she was okay with it. He leaned forward, placed the moon behind her ear and fitted it in place. When he finished, he took a step back.

"Can you understand me?" he asked. Her face flashed, surprised.

"I-.. Yes, I can," she put her hand up to her ear to touch the device. It seemed to intrigue her.

"Good, what are you doing here?" Garrus asked her, bending over to undo her other wrist cuff. She moved away at first, startled, but then calmed down.

"I- wait, who are you?" Garrus thought he was the one asking the questions but okay, he could give her that.

"My name is Garrus Vakarian," he said moving on her unlock her feet.

"Garrus.." she repeated, as if she was testing his name.

"What are you doing here?" he asked finally getting the last shackle off.

"I-… I honestly don't know." She said shaking her head and rubbing her face with her palms. She was trying to think or remember, or trying to smooth away the bruises. "Wait! What are you doing!" she exclaimed pulling back from him when he pulled out his Omni-tool.

"I'm going to apply Medi-gel to you wounds; they're pretty deep and I need you to be able to walk," he said, hovering his arm over her body. She relaxed but gawked at the Oomni-tool, her face was one of awe.

"Are you with Cerberus?" He asked as he finished. He didn't think she was but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Cerberus?" she said, confused. That answered that questioned.

"Never mind. How did you get here?" he said, moving backwards to give her enough room to get down from the table. She stumbled though, practically twisting her ankle, losing her footing and ended up in Garrus' arms. She didn't seemed to be phased by him catching her in the nick of time, or how he suddenly got nervous holding her. She just looked up at him, her eyes glittering in the room like jewels.

"I was on a beach," she started to explain, not even caring about the event that just occurred and if she was hurt. She didn't even move from his arms. "I was watching the ocean when someone attacked me. I never saw them coming but the last thing I remember was their armor. It was… yellow and white and spots of black in certain places. There was an odd symbol too. I don't know how to describe it." That sounded like Cerberus alright; kidnapping people when they are the most vulnerable and taking advantage of them later.

"Can you stand now?" he asked. She nodded and he set her down on her feet, making sure she could remain up right before he let her go.

"Thank you," she said, patting off her hospital gown even though it wasn't dusty.

"What were they doing to you?" She didn't answer that, instead she just glanced at the giant needle that was above the table.

"I don't know… They injected me with something that made my whole body go numb and then, they were going to… I don't know, they didn't finish."

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions," she said with her hands on her hips. She had a weird accent that Garrus hadn't noticed before. She accented her "A"s and her "S"s were almost pronounce as a "Z" but not in a way that he had heard before, it was unusual.

"Sorry, it's my job," he shrugged.

"Well, an alarm went off and then everyone disappeared," she said, which was exactly what Garrus had predicted.

"Hey we need to move out…" Tsaro said from the doorway. Garrus had completely forgotten he was even here.

"Who is he?" she inquired, checking him over with a glare to make sure he was okay.

"Saparus. He is a soldier with me to figure out what is going on here…" Garrus explained.

"Huh…so what is going on here?" When was it her turn to ask questions?

"I was hoping you would have known… But he is right, we should get going. If you stay with us, we can take you home." Garrus told her, he couldn't help looking into her eyes again. They were just radiating with a life of their own.

She nodded. Garrus lead her out of room into the laboratory. She seemed to be sturdy on her feet now but as soon as she closed in on Tsaro, she tensed up but her face stayed calm. She watched him move towards Garrus.

"What's the plan?" he asked, taking out his rifle again, the made the girl even more tense. Garrus could tell that Tsaro was getting antsy; even though his nervous shake was gone, they had been here for a while and that must have added to his paranoia.

"We need to check the rest of the post and make sure it's clear. I don't want any more Cerberus troops here or leave any other survivors if there is any," Garrus said. "Also we need to regroup with the others."

Tsaro nodded, "What are we gunna do about her?" he tilted his head in her direction. Garrus could see her expression change on her face. She didn't like the way he said that, it probably made her feel like she was out of the conversation or unimportant.

"We'll keep her between us as we move. You'll be watching the rear. I'll be look out," Garrus explained while she shifted uncomfortable. She didn't like the idea of Tsaro watching her back but she didn't say anything.

"What about her outfit?" Tsaro asked, he had suddenly started shaking again. The idea of having another responsibility on his shoulders probably added to his nerves. Garrus looked over to the girl; she was in a hospital gown that was tied in knots on the back so she wasn't completely naked but Tsaro was right. It would only take a very good placed bullet and they wouldn't have a survivor.

"When they caught me, I had a suit." She told them, but shrugged, "I have no idea where they put it though."

"You had a suit?" Garrus was surprised, why would she have a suit?

"I'm a pilot," she told them with a timid smile. She seemed really unsure of herself, like she was afraid to say more. Garrus wondered what she was hiding but he didn't question her. He didn't have time, when they get back to Palaven they would have all the time in the world to find out.

"I found a Cerberus uniform in one of the counters here," Tsaro explained.

"That isn't the best idea but it's better than her running around in that," Garrus said.

"What's wrong with this?" she asked, looking down at herself.

"Well if we run into any trouble, that skimpy fabric isn't going to save you from anything." She chuckled, it was strange and feeble, but it made Garrus smile. Her voice was so tender when she wanted it to be, but harsh when she demanded it. She followed Tsaro over to the counter while Garrus used his Omni-tool to contact the others.

" Omril?" he spoke, waiting for an answer. " Omril?" he repeated.

"Vakarian!" his voice came through almost in alarm.

"Report,"

"We're taking heavy firepower but nothing we can't handle! Just get here fast cause we need all the help we can get."

"Okay, we found a human girl; she's a survivor. She is wearing Cerberus armor for protection."

"Copy that. We'll watch where we point our guns."

"Thanks, we'll be there soon. Over."

"Hurry. Over."

Garrus pulled out his rifle and ready himself. Not only did he have to help his squad and finish off the Cerberus troops, but he had to make sure that the girl stayed alive. He suddenly realized that he didn't know her name. He turned around and found her already fully dressed. Besides the fact that the uniform was way too big, it was a male uniform. She looked like a child playing dress up but it would work better then the gown.

"I forgot to ask you, what's your name?"

She was looking down at herself when she answered, "My name is Safiya. Safiya Albatross. "

* * *

><p><span>Disclaimer:<span>I don't own anything. Mass Effect belongs to Bioware.

I realized that about half way through writing that Garrus probably could have just used his Omni tool for translating but that wouldn't have been as fun. Plus I was trying to establish trust between them. ;))

Thanks to all the people who have left me reviews. Even if I only have seven right now, they have given me hope for this story and inspired motivation for continuing. So please leave me more!


	7. The Rescue

The Rescue

Walking down a narrow hallway between two aliens made me feel so unbelievably edgy. I couldn't help but watch Garrus and frequently shifting to look at Saparus from the corner of my eye. I had never seen a species like them before and I had been to the City of Lorah on Patherum, the center capitol of my galaxy. There species met for trade, communication, debates, and expanding alliances. It was the only city of true peace for the gathering of galactic people. Thousands of civilized species walked inside the walls of the city, millions of faces, trillions of people but none of them looked like these aliens. Just like none of them looked like me, not a single one had the features of a human. Where I came from, I was one of a kind; aliens stared at me the way I was staring at Garrus. But there was something about him, though, that sparked my interest.

The other alien, Saparus, was the nervous type. He had new armor that shined in the small over hanging lights, his overripe green tattoos only outlined his mandibles, he held his gun astray but sturdy, and he shook trebly but stood with pride while Garrus was a breed of a different kind. His posture was straight, his blue markings laced under his eyes, over his noses, and on the sides of his face, his armor was old and dull, full of scratches and dents of an older battle, and on his left cheek was a fading scar. Saparus, as I could tell, was a new soldier, fresh to the battlefields but Garrus was older, wiser, and had tasted war before. My fathers' had once told me of the civilization of the Elitheans, a war race that called their great warriors Sa'lasa, which meant those who dance in the field of blood. All Sa'lasa soldier had to have scars to reach that title, it defined that vanity had no binding chains to their thoughts. They wore their scars proudly, as a display of heroism and courage. Garrus had that charm, in his own strange way, and it reminded of the Elithean culture. I was curious as to how he received those scars, what battle he had to face, and who gave it to him.

The hall ran on and on, I could see no end to it. We hit a pocket of cold air between the walls as we walked. Even in my armor, I shivered, pulling the cloth closer to my skin. I was glad to have the armor, even if it was one of the enemies. I made me feel okay.

I was watching Garrus again when I noticed something coming up on sides, it was covering the entire wall. When we got closer, I realized that it was blood, blue blood, dripping into small puddles on the floor.

"I guess we know what happened to the Turian soldiers on this post," Garrus said as he walked. He pulled out a blue helmet and put it on. Saparus did the same. "I'm going to strip the skins off those Cerberus troops for what they've done here. It was practically a massacre." Cerberus? Turian? He was saying all these words I didn't understand but I could read his tone, he was angry but not consumed in distressed. He held his gun up to his shoulder and his body language became intense. He wasn't playing anymore; he was ready to fight.

We passed by several rooms where the doors were swayed opened ajar. They were barracks, I guessed; there were beds, desks, computers, even clothing. The rooms were empty at first but as we strolled down the corridor, we found beds with aliens like Garrus and Saparus in them, the same blue blood on the floor and spread across the sheets; the smell of death was in the air and stung in my nostrils. He was right, it was a massacre, and I realized Garrus _was_ a Turian. It was he race. And Cerberus must be either another species or just some enemy.

_But I saw humans, _I thought. Were humans enemies to the Turians? That didn't seem right. They thought I was a human and they were kind to me.

"Killing people in their sleep is a coward's way of fighting," Garrus spoke back at us through his helmet. I felt the same way about it but I remained silent. Saparus didn't.

"Why would Cerberus do this?" he sounded worried through the dark glass of his covering. "Attacking a Turian base would give them what advantage?"

"The Illusive Man only thinks about expanding humanity and finding benefits for humans, he doesn't care how he gets it. He could be looking for resources. Maybe the marine life here has something he can use or.."

"Maybe he was looking for people," I spat out before I could stop myself. Garrus stopped and looked at me through his helmet. Even through the stained glass, I could feel his beady eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"There are a lot of beds here that are empty," I told him, trying to explain my thoughts. I didn't know much about anything they were saying but to me, I could see what was happening clearly. I had read about it before in the history of planet Zuloka. "So what happened to the rest? Did you see any bodies outside?" Garrus didn't answer so I continued, "Maybe what happened to the rest of them is what was going to happen to me."

"Then why kill some in their beds?" Saparus asked behind me.

"To create a scene," I replied. "So when they were done, it would just look like a slaughter instead of an experiment."

"Maybe," Garrus said thoughtfully. He obviously hadn't considered that but he didn't see what they were going to do to me and how they weren't prepared to leave when the alarm went off. They must have thought they had more time; they rushed around the rooms grabbing things, going on the computers, and running out the door completely forgetting about me. They had a lot of stuff in their hands when they left, a lot of data; they must have been on this planet for a while to collect that must information. "We need to keep moving," he said finally. I nodded.

We walked in an awkward silence for a while, and then the sound of shouting cracked it. It was distant and faded behind other new noises as we strolled. "We're getting close," Saparus said; his rifle trembling in his fingers.

"Saparus, get in front. We need to protect Safiya," Garrus commanded and Saparus obeyed. That was the first time he had said my name, the first time anyone called me by that besides my fathers. It was strange coming from his lips; I unintentionally shifted uncomfortable on my feet. It's not that I didn't like it; it just reminded me of my father and that dream.

Saparus got in front of me; his weapon drawn and ready. The battle was getting closer. I could hear yelling, hums of bullet, and crashing explosions that rumbled the ground beneath my feet. I would have been lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but not nearly as much as Saparus. I just wished I had a gun too.

"Safiya," Garrus said addressing me. "Stay back."

"I'll try," I replied.

Then we walked out into an opening.

* * *

><p>Bullets were flying everywhere. It was a foyer for casual living quarters but now it was a battlefield. One side was Cerberus troops, hiding behind pushed over tables, generated shields, and walls; on the other the rest of Garrus' Turian squad, outnumbered, out gun, and almost out of cover. Tsaro, Safiya, and Garrus had just walked into the middle of it.<p>

Instantly, Garrus and Tsaro went into position, leaving Safiya in the hallway to use the walls for protection; she didn't look frighten, just vulnerable. Garrus planted himself behind a short walkway barrier and pulled out his sniper rifle. He wasn't nervous; he held it up over the wall and peered through the scope. He spotted a Centurion among the Cerberus forces, his armor bulkier then the rest. Garrus made sure he locked onto the Centurion's head, held his breath to steady his rifle, and took the shot.

"Got one," he yelled. In the curve of his eye he watched Tsaro use his assault rifle to hit a one of the soldiers; it took four and five bullets but he got the guy from all the way across the room. Garrus put the sniper back up to his face and started picking off targets; they fell to the ground, bleeding out to death, while others were lucky enough to still be alive on the ground. _They won't be for long, _Garrus thought as another Centurion came running towards them. The small Cerberus army had set up a generator to replenish their shields and barriers; Garrus pulled the trigger on his gun and hit the monster but it had little effect-his barrier was just recharge in the matter of seconds.

_Damn! _Garrus reflected as he reloaded his weapon. It had over heated and he was going to need more bullets.

On the left side of the room, the Turian soldiers were trying to take the Centurion down. Every gun was pointed at the beast as he ran across the room right towards Garrus and Tsaro, and he was getting close. Tsaro dropped his assault rifle on the tiled floor and pulled out a Katana shot-gun. Before Garrus don't even say anything, let alone stop him, he was charging towards the enemy, blasting out shells of bullets at the Centurion. He broke through his barriers, destroyed the shields, and discharged blood out of the body in a display of splatters.

"Watch out!" Garrus yelled from his position as the Cerberus troops realized that Tsaro was no longer in cover. They started to fire at him, projectiles slipping past him only centimeters away from his body and face. He jump and rolled into protection, landing just behind a leather couch.

The Turians took their aim on the small mass of Cerberus troops on the opposite side again, firing all they got at them, while Tsaro was caught in the middle. Garrus couldn't leave his position; he didn't want to leave Safiya open, so he stood his ground and continue to single out each target.

"There's a Mech coming!" Omril yelled across the room and only seconds later the windows above the foyer came crashing down in a glitter glass rain. Then Garrus saw the Mech. It had the colors of the regular Cerberus troops and even wore the symbol, but it was shiny from the direct light of the sun beaming down at it. He could see the soldier inside, controlling the machine as he fired off rockets at the Turian squad. Omril ran to the right, barely missing the missile and the explosion. He fell to the ground as pieces of particles and waves energy flew past him, pushing him over. The other Turian wasn't so lucky; the missile was a straight hit. He exploded; his body smashed into the building and fell to the floor, leaving a blue stain on the wall.

Garrus pulled out his assault rifle and started to shoot towards the consol of the machine. It had a thick barrier, and an even stronger shield, but if he could break through the glass of the cockpit-he could destroy the Mech.

The pilot inside recognized that Garrus was shooting at him and turned in his direction. It took big steps, shaking the earth below it in an unsettling manner. Tsaro was still at the back of the couch and in a few small steps, the Mech would see him.

Garrus didn't want to leave his spot but he needed to draw off its fire. He knew that if he left, he would be completely leaving Safiya by herself, with no protect, but if things got worse; she could ways run back down the hall. He looked back at her. She was crouched over with her arms against the wall; her face was calm and she gazed back at him with a strange wonder, as if she knew. Then she smiled.

Garrus took off to the other side of the room. A pathway leads from where they were positioned to where Omril had been. The Mech followed him the way a bug is drawn to the light, firing off a machine gun just behind his trail. Garrus had to leap over a box and into cover at the last second. The pilot was getting better at aiming his gun, but he was no way near as good as Garrus. He kept firing though, trying to penetrate the small wall Garrus was using for defense, but then the machine overheated. Now it was Garrus' turn. He jumped up, throwing a grenade first and then shooting his gun at the cockpit. The explosion disorientated the soldier inside and for a few seconds Garrus had time to fully blast bullets at the machine. Tsaro moved from his spot, running over to a better position, and then turning to shoot the Mech as well. Its barrier was depleted but now they had to break through its shield.

The Machine made one turn, right towards Tsaro, and launched a missile. Garrus couldn't see from his position if it had hit him or not; it was just a huge cloud of dust and debris. The pilot turned to face him and sent off his machine guns. Garrus ducked into cover again and was trying to think. How was he suppose to does this on his own? The Cerberus troops on the other side of the room were slowly coming his way and this Mech was becoming more then he had hoped for. Omril was unconscious, covered in wreckage. He didn't even know if Tsaro was alive. Suddenly the firing had stopped and Garrus pulled up his rifle to shoot when he realized that he wasn't the only one shooting. On the other corner of the room, Safiya had picked up Tsaro's fallen rifle and was firing off bullets at the Mech. Her bullets destroyed the last of its shield as Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle; one bullet was all he needed. He raised it up, holding it against his shoulder, took aim through the scope and into the glass off the cockpit. He pulled the trigger. The bullet came spinning out, zipping through the air, and through the skull of the pilot. The Mech stumbled, its electronics overloading, its systems overheating; the whole thing blow up in a small burst, taking out several of the other Cerberus operatives, and fell to the ground. Garrus didn't wait to get the rest of the bastards with his sniper; they fell to the ground before they even knew what hit them. One after another he shot them down until he got the last trooper, blood spilled out of their wound as they tried to keep going, keep moving but then fell to their knees and then to the floor. It was a blood bath in the foyer, everything was destroyed, a shallow lake of blood covered the ground but the shooting had finally stopped. The firing had faded away. And it was quiet in the room. Garrus could hear Safiya soft footsteps echo as she walked towards him, the gun still in her hands; it looks unbelievably large compared to the rest of her body.

"Safiya," he said, not really knowing why he said her name when she got closed enough to him.

"Please, call me Saf," she said with a weak smile.

"Saf?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you but I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to protect yourself."

"I wasn't protecting myself," she said, handing the gun over to him. He grabbed it subconsciously. "I was safe. You don't look like one of those types that would leave me if you didn't think I was safe. You just looked like you need help." That made him smile and she smiled back. Not a weak one this time, her whole face brightened and her eyes lit up like fireworks.

He was going to say something but he stopped and watched her as she hopped over the small wall and into the center where all the chaos was. Her Cerberus boots leaving prints in the blood as she walked over to the leather couch. She was going to check on Tsaro, Garrus realized. He did the same, jumping over the fence and walking over the bodies. Saf was pulling a big broken piece of furniture off when Garrus realized that Tsaro was still alive and unbelievably unhurt. Garrus lent out a hand and helped him to his feet.

"What a battle," Tsaro said; his armor that was once brand new now scratched and dented, covered with dust. He looked like a true Turian now, a real warrior. He's trembles were gone, his nervous wiped clean from his face, and his eyes were filled with a fire. It was like seeing a whole new person. Garrus felt proud.

"You did good, Saparus," he commented with a pat on Tsaro's shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Now, let's go make sure Omril is okay and I'll call in our shuttle."

* * *

><p>The sun was about to set when we finally got out of the building. The sky was still blue but about to go into its transition as we walked through a dense jungle; Garrus in front of me with his gun still in hand and Saparus holding a Turian named Omril up on his shoulders. The alien didn't look badly hurt except for on his leg where a shard of glass had punctured through his skin and made it almost impossible for him to walk without help.<p>

I couldn't stop myself from absorbing the world around me; the tree here were beautiful and tall, trying to climb up into the sunset as the plants below them with giant leaves kept to themselves in small huddles. It was dark in the forest and humid but I liked the way it smelled in when the breeze rolled in with the fragrance from the ocean. The smells mixed together and made me feel okay. I don't know why I was enjoying it so much; I just felt like that after all that I had just endured; being eaten by a black hole, attacked, almost experimented on, saved by strange aliens, and then pushed into battle had made me miss just being able to relax and I really needed to relax. One of my fathers use to take me for walks on foreign planets with him; we would just stroll through gardens of great marvel with vegetation that I had never seen before. I would always try to make an adventure out of it but he would hinder me and say, "Sometimes you need to just stop and smell the roses." I would ask him what was a rose and he would just laugh and laugh and laugh through his nonexistent mouth. I never could grasp what he meant but now, with these aliens, walking through this unfamiliar place, I felt closer to understanding.

We reached the beach; the sun was setting in front of us and giving us a display of colors. The sky was changing; pink, oranges, and shades of reds danced over the atmosphere and streaking the small clouds that were hovering just over head. The sand was glittering in the low light, sparkling like a universe of stars. I realized, suddenly, that this was the place I was attacked at. I could see lost footsteps in the sand and blemished grains where my blood at stained it.

A shuttle was landing on the shore; it was an alien ship but I could still make out parts; thrusters, cockpit, landing flaps, rudders, doors. It was no change then what I had seen before, only the design was different.

Saparus and the wounded Turian boarded, Garrus closely behind them but then he turned to me. His eyes locking with mine. Suddenly, I felt like running away, just taking off on the sand. I didn't know where I would go, what I would do, but I also didn't know what they would do to me. They thought I was human, maybe that was good enough, but one DNA test would prove me otherwise. What would they do to someone like me? In my galaxy, the first alien of a new race that was found was taken by the higher council and never seen again. After that, it didn't matter if you were that race; they already knew everything about your kind. Would the Turians treat me the same way? Even if they let me live, how would I manage? I didn't know anything about them; I barely knew anything about humans. I don't even know how I can speak the human language, how I knew it. Maybe my fathers inserted it into my memory; maybe they knew all this would happen.

Garrus was walking towards me. My heart was racing. I wanted to scream in frustration but I held it in, I wanted to just hide but I couldn't. He got close enough to where if I held my arm up, I could touch him, then he stopped.

"Come on," he said in a soft voice. "Let's go home." He had no idea how redundant that sounded. Home? How was I ever supposed to go home? Jump into another black hole again? What if it took me into another dimension? Even if I could, I never really had a home. I was a foreigner even in my own galaxy, let alone in this one. "Saf?" he asked. I had a hard time looking at him because my eyes were filling up with tears. I can't even explain all the mixed up feelings in my heart and all the thoughts running through my head. I wish I did die in that black hole. Things would have been easier.

I choked back my tears and looked at him. He was waiting. I couldn't read the expression on his face because I didn't know Turians enough to be able too. "Okay," I said, the words almost caught in my mouth.

We walked side by side to the shuttle. I couldn't stop shivering terribly. I was scared...

And I don't know why, but half way there, I grabbed his hand and I held it. It was so weird; I had never clasps hands with anyone except for my fathers' and theirs were cold, lifeless, and filled with a vibe of all knowing power but Garrus' were warm, kind, and his talons, oddly, didn't seem hard to clutch. He grabbed mine back. I never thought I would ever hold an alien's hand, I never thought I would be in a situation like this, but Garrus, he made me feel okay.

* * *

><p><span>DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.<span>

So I hope I didn't confuse you guys too much when I switched from Tsaro's first name to last name. It's just that when I write Garrus' perspective, I write everyone's first names but since Garrus introduced Tsaro as Saparus to Safiya, she calls him that. If it's too much just tell me and I'll make it all unison.

Please leave me reviews for the good and the bad. I tried really hard in the chapter but I want to be a better writer so tell me what you like or dislike. Thanks.


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